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Mark Goldberg

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The stakes could not have been higher for John Kerry as he appeared before the NAACP's 95th annual convention in Philadelphia on July 15. In the few months prior, his campaign had been the subject of sharp criticisms from prominent black leaders throughout the country. In May, Donna Brazile chided Kerry for not including enough African Americans in his campaign's highest rungs. And, on the same day as Kerry's NAACP speech, members of the Congressional Black Caucus went public with their collective disappointment over his $2 million black-media blitz. This was Kerry's chance to put those criticisms to rest. President Bush had just snubbed the group by declining an invitation to speak, and this was Kerry's moment to steal. Well aware of the criticisms he faced, he tried to convince the crowd that he feels their pain. "When I look around neighborhoods and towns and cities across this nation, I see exactly what so many of you see every day, and what some of our leaders in Washington seem...